Management Systems in Production Engineering

2012,No4(8),pp37

PROPOSALOFTHEIMPLEMENTATIONOFTHEQFDMETHODTOIMPROVETHEWELDINGPROCESSIN THECHOSEN,REALLYEXISTINGCOMPANYX
MartaMIERZWA UniversityofSilesia

Abstract: Thepaperpresentsananalysisandevalua onofselectedaspectsoftheenterpriseX,thereisshowntheselec onofthe methodofproquality,whichispossibletoapplyandthismethodwascarriedoutstepbysteptofollowitscourseand ndoutwhetherthecompanywillbringtangiblebenets.

Keywords:quality,irregulari es,methodsandtechniquesofqualitymanagement,QFD,thehouseofquality

INTRODUCTION Some years ago the quality of the products was less important than the meliness and implementa on of pro duc onplans,because"badqualityoftheproductscaused just cri cism" [1], and it didnt manifest itself with any other consequences. Consumers just bought a variety of marketnews,ifonlythepricewasaordable,andnobody paidmucha en onasnowonqualityissues. Everythinghaschangeda ersa sfyingthebasicneeds ofpeopleinhighlydevelopedcountries,andthereforemo dernmanufacturingcompanyshouldtakeintospecialacco untthequalityoftheproductproducedbythem,because thiswillbereectedinano ceablemarketposi onofthe company.Veryo enthelevelofqualityispartofthecom pe onbetweenrms.Itisworthno ngthatthequalityof theproducthasitsoriginalreadyinthedesignprocess.Itis here that you need to plan it carefully, because mistakes made at this stagecannot be repaired in subsequentpha sesofproduc on.Manydefectsobservedduringthemanu facturing or using of the product can be clearly linked to negligenceinthedesign[2].Atthispointitshouldbemen onedaboutthelifecycleofproductquality[3],whichcan be presented as a closed circle which has three phases: planning,implementa onanduse(Fig.1). The quality of the nal product is inuenced by such elementsas: The quality of work, which includes the contractors qualityandworkingcondi ons(deviceandtool); Materials which are on the inputof the manufacturing process,rawmaterialsandseminishedproducts; "Produc onqualitywhichincludesthestructureofthe deployment devices, storage, methods of cost planning, transport[3]. Companies, where the quality policy is implemented, shouldhavespeciedinstruments,allowingyoutoperform

tasksaimedat"shapingthequalityoftheproductsorpro cesses at every stage of their existence" [1]. Typically, in struments are divided into: principles (rules), tools and methods.Therulesarecharacterizedbylongtermeects, for instance the principle of "con nuous improvement of processes". Tools are a ributed by the shortlived impact, and their eects can be seen very quickly. An example mightbetheIshikawadiagram.Iftheexposure meiscon cerned,themethodsshouldbeputbetweentheprinciples andtools.Themethodsare:QFD,FMEA,etc.

Fig.1.Thelifecycleofproductquality[6]

RESEARCHANDANALYSIS Thecompanyadoptedheretoanalyzeproducesalotof steel construc ons and is the rm that has existed in the market for over 60 years, so has some technology experi enceandduringtheperiodofpoli calchangesinPoland,it hadrela onswithlargecompaniesfromtheindustryarea (construc onequipment)fromWesternEurope.Currently, 95%customersofthecompanyarefromtheforeigncoun

4ManagementSystemsinProduc onEngineering4(8)/2012 M.MIERZWAProposaloftheimplementa onoftheqfdmethodtoimprovetheweldingprocessinthechosen... tries.Since1996thecompanyhashadacer cateofQuali tySystem. Noncompliance divergences between the product and the requirements The following graphs are a visualiza on of the number of reported noncompliance over the years from 1996 to 2010. Figure 2 refers to those reported at this me com plaints from customers, and Figure 3 shows the faults in thisperiod. The author of the publica on especially highlights this aspect of the enterprise exis ng, because she expected a decreaseinboththecomplaintsandfaultsa ertheimple menta onofISO9001.Butthatdidnothappen. Quality costs A er analysis the products non compliances the next area approaches the quality costs Among them we can dis nguish the costs that are incurred in order to remove noncompliances arising from errors and complaints, but thebiggestitemalwaysistakenbythecostoftheassess ment. This data is presented below (Fig. 4). It is believed that"qualitycostscanconsume2030%ofincomesorturn overofthecompany"[4].Thepoten alopportunityreduc ing them exists, and would require from the company to make eorts to minimize the number of noncompliance. The experience of many companies shows that a large number of faults and complaints is the result of mistakes madeduringthedesignprocess.Andthelaterthedefects areobserved,themoreexpensivewillberemovingthemby theproduc oncompany. Places of formation non compliances From gures appearing on the next page you can read thatmostproblemsinthecompanyfunc oningcameinto existence at assembly works. The second place belongs to welding,andthethirdlocksmithworks.Alargenumberof reportedcomplaintsrela ngtotheselistedabovewasdue tothelowdetec onrateofnoncomplianceatthecompa ny.

Fig.2.Summaryofthenumberofcomplaintsintheyearsa ertheimplementa onofISO9001

Fig.3.Summaryofthenumberoffaultsintheyearsa ertheimplementa onofISO9001

Fig.4.Thestructureofqualitycosts

ManagementSystemsinProduc onEngineering4(8)/20125
M.MIERZWAProposaloftheimplementa onoftheqfdmethodtoimprovetheweldingprocessinthechosen...

Fig.5.Summaryofthenumberofcomplaintswithreferencetotheopera onsandposi ons

Fig.6.Summaryofthenumberoffaultswithreferencetotheopera onsandposi ons

The proposal of the implementation of the method of pro quality A er analyzing the places of forma on the non compliances,theauthortookupimprovingofthewelding process,becauseofitisthesecondmostimportantdeter minantofcomplaintsfromcustomers. Welding is a process widely used in industry. This pro cess has inuence on produc on costs and the quality of the nal product. Therefore, it should be carried out e cientlyandeec vely.Weldingistreatedasaspecialpro cess, as the tests of welds dont conrm, whether the productquality(denedinstandards)isachieved.Product quality is not achieved by the control quality should be achieved in the produc on process. Even the most exten sive and specialized nondestruc ve tes ng will not im prove the weld quality" [5]. In order to avoid problems in the produc on and using it is necessary to supervise over allphases,whichareintheareaofbusinessinterac ons.So if the welding process isnt designed properly, this may causes the problems during installa on or use. And, as it was noted earlier, the assembly problems in the company arequiteo en,soyoucanassumethatsomepartofthem isconnectedwiththeweldingprocess. Thecriterionoftheselec onamethod Forfurtheranalysistheweldingprocesswaschosenthe QFDmethod(QualityFunc onDeployment)duetoitscom plexity,because"ittakesintoaccountallfactorswhichin uence on the quality of the designed products (processes)" [1]. Polish transla on of QFD is the "development of the quality func on". "QFD method was developedbyYojiAkaoinJapanin1966ofthelastcentu

ry"[1].Itsrstapplica onwasin1972.Thiswasintheyard which belonged to Mitsubishi. 70s the last century have givenitarealboostandrecogni onoflargecompaniesin JapanandtheUSA. QFD is a method which gives the possibility of solving problems coming from the limited contact between the rm and the client. It oers an opportunity to recognize consumer expecta ons, and you could say that the QFD method "translates" customer requirements "on the tech nicallanguageusedintheenterprise"[1]. Themaintoolofthechosenmethodisadiagramcalled "houseofquality",whichcontainseldssuchas:customer requirements, their importance to consumers, technical parametersoftheobject(inthiscasetheweldingprocess), the rela on between these parameters, the rela on be tween technical parameters and customer expecta ons, and "technical indicators of complexity" [1]. However, the nalshapeofthediagramandthenumberofeldsarethe resultsofthecomplexityoftheanalyzedproblem.Theex amina onalsoallowstoassesstheimportanceofthetech nicalparameters,andthefollowingformulaisusedforit:

T j Wi Z ij
i 1

(1)

where: Tjimportanceofthetechnicalparameter"j"; Wiimportanceoftherequirement"i"; Zijtherela onbetweentherequirement"i"andthetech nicalparameter"j"; Rnumberofthecustomerrequirements.

6ManagementSystemsinProduc onEngineering4(8)/2012 M.MIERZWAProposaloftheimplementa onoftheqfdmethodtoimprovetheweldingprocessinthechosen... Calcula onofthecoecientsTjallowsaniden ca on oftechnicalproblems. Descrip onoftheprocedureintheselectedmethod 1. Select an object of analysis the welding process in companyX. 2. Preparealistofclientsa ributes:safety,conformity withtheproject,weldsize,competenceoftheweld er,cost,lead meoftheorder,durability,qualityof materials and products, guarantee, renown of the company, lack of chips, customer service, aesthe c workmanship. 3. Dividethesea ributesintothreecategories: Func onal: safety, durability. Associatedwiththeappearance: conformitywiththeproject, weldsize, aesthe cworkmanship, lackofchips. Other: cost, guarantee, qualityofmaterialsandproducts, competenceofthewelder, customerservice, lead meoftheorder, renownofthecompany. 4. Evaluatetheimportanceofthesea ributes. 5. Based on an interview with the company employee assignedweightstothea ributesoftheclient(Table 1). 6. The technical a ributes associated with the process of welding were appointed: complying with the re quirements of norms, method of the welding, dura bility,resistancetoextrinsicfactors,linkedmaterials, electrode or ux material, the amount and the con centra onoftheprovidedenergy,geometry,project oftheconnec on,stresses. 7. Specifytherela onsbetweenthetechnicala ributes andcompletetheroofofthediagram(Fig.7). 8. Specifytherela onsbetweenthetechnicala ributes andthecustomera ributes(Fig.7). 9. Calculate the importance of the technical a rib utes. For this purpose, use the formula (1). Results placeinthediagram(Fig.7).
Table1 Rateoftheimportanceofthecustomera ributes
CustomerA ributes safety durability conformitywiththeproject weldsize aesthe cworkmanship lackofchips cost guarantee thequalityofmaterialsandproducts competenceofthewelder customerservice lead meoftheorder renownofthecompany Weight 10 7 10 9 1 3 8 5 6 9 2 8 4

Fig.7.Houseofqualityfortheweldingprocess

ManagementSystemsinProduc onEngineering4(8)/20127
M.MIERZWAProposaloftheimplementa onoftheqfdmethodtoimprovetheweldingprocessinthechosen...

SUMMARY Onthebasisofassessmentoftheimportanceofa rib utesofthecustomer(Fig.7)itispossibletostatethatpecu liarly for recipients of products of the company X both a safety and a compliance with the delivered plan are rele vantaspectsforcompanyatplacinganorderinrela onto joints carried out. The least important are: an aesthe c workmanship and a customer service. The second conclu sion from the diagram (Fig. 7) can be sta ng a strong e between"complyingwiththerequirementsofnorms"and the remaining technical a ributes of the process of weld ing. Next the "renown of the company" from a ributes of the customer is demonstra ng the strong inuence on all technicala ributesoftheweldingprocess. Based on the diagram "house of quality" the author states that the company should pay special a en on to cri cal features, which are: complying with the require mentsofnorms,methodsofweldingandlinkedmaterials. There is ahigh probability that the issueof complaintsre gardingtheweldingprocessistheresultofthelisteda rib utes, and therefore the company should improve the pro cessatthestageofdesign,whenitscourseisdetermined. An undoubted advantage of QFD seems to be under standing of customer requirements and the ability to ac countitforachievingcompletesuccess.Atdrawingupthe "house of quality" the cri cal features of the welding pro cess were found, which contains: complying with the re quirements of norms and proper selec on of materials to be joined and the proper method of welding. The conclu

sion based on the conducted analysis is that the company shouldputanemphasisonproductqualityandtheprocess es at the verybeginning duringthedesignprocess,thus it may become possible to reduce the rela vely high cost of quality. REFERENCES [1] Skotnicka B.,WolniakR.: Metody i narzdzia zarzdza nia jakoci. Teoria i praktyka. Wydawnictwo Politechnikilskiej.Gliwice2011. [2] HamrolA.,ManturaW.:Zarzdzaniejakociteoriai praktyka. Wydawnictwo Naukowe PWN. Warszawa 2005. [3] SkotnickaZasadzie B.: Wykorzystanie narzdzi zarzdzania jakoci w zakresie analizy niezgodnoci wyrobu w przedsibiorstwie przemysowym. Studia i Materiay Polskiego Stowarzyszenia Zarzdzania Wiedz.Nr45,2011,s.251259. [4] JagodaD.:Jakonaetapietechnicznegoprzygotowan ia produkcji. [w:] Knosala R. (red.): Komputerowo Zin tegrowane Zarzdzanie. Tom 1. Ocyna Wydawnicza Polskiego Towarzystwa Zarzdzania Produkcj. Opole 2010,s.570577. [5] PNEN 7291 Welding. Guidelines for quality and use. PolskiKomitetNormalizacyjny.1997. [6] GrzenkowiczN.:Zarzdzaniejakocimetodyiinstru menty controllingu jakoci. Wydawnictwo Naukowe Wydziau Zarzdzania Uniwersytetu Warszawskiego. Warszawa2009.

in.MartaMierzwa UniversityofSilesia DepartmentofTheComputerScienceAndTheoryAboutMaterials ul.Bankowa12,40007Katowice,POLAND email:martuniamierzwa@gmail.com

Artykuwpolskiejwersjijzykowejdostpnynastronie internetowejczasopisma.

The ar cle in Polish language version available on the websiteofthejournal